Like India Pale Ale, the classic Imperial Stouts were originally brewed with high levels of alcohol and hops to withstand the rigors of a long sea journey, not to India but to Imperial Russia and the Baltic States. Our version is an over-the-top riff on the style, with a huge grain bill featuring several kinds of malted barley, wheat, rye, oats, and spelt. Robust grain and coffee flavors are counterbalanced by date and plum notes from the Belgian yeast. To add extra complexity and depth, this Imperial Stout is made up of a blend of freshly brewed beer and several barrel-aged beers, carefully balanced. Za Vas!

Taste: Roasted malts, chocolate, vanilla, oak and very light bourbon. Warming alcohol, but hard to pick up on much. Very rich and complex.

Appearance/Overall: Medium bodied or a hair over with low, fine, smooth carbonation. Could use a bit more body, but still good. Overall, excellent semi-vintage imperial stout. This one aged excellently. A fuller mouthfeel and a bit more prominent barrel would be my only suggestions for improvement.

2013 bottle.Pours jet black with no light getting thru,a full two finger deep beige head atop that settles very slowly into a frothy mass.Aromas of dark fruti stand out most with lighter whiskey barrel notes,not in your face.A smooth creamy fuller feel makes for a good sipping brew.Alot of dark fruit on the palate along with dark molasses and chocolate,there is a detectable earthiness in the finish wich was nice.Not a big roasty/coffee influnced imperial stout here it's more of a dark fruit and sweeter brew.I like it alot,the barrel aging doesn't overpower the beer.

Originally had this on tap in Dec and it was outstanding (4.15) but revisited it on tap 2 weeks ago, and it tasted off. Opened a bottle on Tuesday and was much more noticeably off. This year's batch seems to have been infected, specifically with some lacto. The beer poured well but smelled like nail polish remover and tasted sour. The bar's manager, a certified Cicerone agreed and emailed the distributor and brewery the next day.

T - No way this thing is this smooth... Mountains of malts.. oats, barley, rye. Baker's chocolate, coffee, espresso. Bits of burnt wood. Just enough metallic hops and the tiniest bit of sweetness just to bundle all the malt together. A little bit of boozy alcohol warming in the back. Aftertaste is of roasted malts and burnt coffee.

M - Thick and fairly slick. Just a little bit of carbonation, but don't expect much.

D - Not sure how to really rate this. Really good for an impy stout, but that's all pretty relative. Drink it fast and you'll get sick, drink it slow and you'll enjoy it nicely. The high ABV will also get you. Hard to believe there's 11% alcohol in this, it is very well hidden.

Pretty darn good imperial stout. Nicely balanced (if there is such a thing), it isn't hop-tarded like some (Old Rasputin).. very good stuff.

Brewery states they did pick up some brett recently, popped the cork off ... corked talked about brett to me, more fruit than funk. Pours with a sudsy light brown head, lacing is impressive ... black as black can be. Aromatics are titans, mellow barrel juice and char, roasted grain of dark chocolate and espresso and a delicate kiss of over ripened fruit ... a whisper of brett as well. Creaminess is set on high, full body floats in the mouth. The maltiness is big on dark chocolate and a sweetened Cubano coffee. Fruity and alcoholic with a growing dryness that wields a hammer of cocoa powder and wood. Molasses. Hops stay modest. Mild tartness, infancy of the brett? It does have a ghost-like funk within. Sweet roasted finish, pretty much burnt sugar.

Not a hair short of being great, the brewery admits to some funk ... wish I had another bottle to see where it goes.

The aroma is great. I get some licorice and dark fruit notes, as well as a lot of oak, roasted malt and some chocolate. You can get all of the notes that you expect in a bourbon barrel aged stout,

The flavor is more of the same. I get a lot of milk chocolate as well as some woodiness from the oak, some bourbon whiskey notes, maple and vanilla. There is also some nice alcohol warming in the flavor.

This was a 2011 batch 1 bottle. No head. Very dark jet black color. I couldn't see through the glass at all when I held it up. Heavy whiskey smell on the nose with some roasts and chocolate. Big whiskey flavors, followed by roasted malt with coffee and chocolate on the tail end. I feel like my throat is coated in whiskey. Nicely balanced however I wonder if the whiskey will mellow after sitting in my closet for a few years. I liked this beer.